Bitter cold

Everything was silent around me, I could perceive only the surprised gasps and suppressed whispers. My pupils were twitching and my eyes were big in disbelief as I felt completely twisted and empty inside. "How... how can this be..." I muttered with a broken voice under my breath.

One sorry tear forced its way out of Amber's right eye. Her expression was the epitome of helplessness. It looked as if she was battling a war with her words; her mouth was open, yet no sound escaped.

"He's a freak..." One of the villagers said with a trembling voice. The rest quickly followed up and soon the air was filled with surnames and insults.

"Monster!.. Devil!.. Cursed!" The words flew around me, assaulting me from every corner.

Village folks I had known all my life and treated as friends scurried away, afraid of my very existence.

I clenched my fists and felt a sting as I bore my nails into my skin, causing blood to flow from my palms. The sound of gritting teeth resounded in my head over and over again, and my blue soaked eyes resembled the ocean as I collected myself and finally stood up.

With heavy steps, I made my way over to the table, determined to get my ability, but after consuming a fierce red orb, I threw it up again. Over and over, my stomach rejected the powerful orbs as I continued to torment my inner body with the futile struggle.

I felt a firm grip around my skinny arm as a rough determined voice said, "Enough freak, scram back to the orphanage where you belong." The noble's steady eyes pierced right through me, making me fall to my knees in utter despair as I broke down crying on the dirty ground.

Amber held an arm around me while sobbing over my shoulder. She was warm and smelled good as always, yet it amounted to nothing compared to the defeat I had faced right before.

"Bruuuuuuuuuuuurm!" A heavy sound came bolting through the city like a whirlwind, followed up with numerous war cries, eliminating every other evening noise. The noble's face flicked to a hill on the other side of the village and in one go, his expression changed from confidence to conflict.

I tilted my sight towards the origin of the horn sound and widened my eyes in surprise as I saw dozens upon dozens of burning arrows that lit up the massive sky like fireworks.

They descended on the tiny village like meteors, and quickly a wild fire began its unstoppable path to destructiveness. The town I had grown up in was now filled with screams of agony and crackling fire, eating away everything.

I stumbled backward on the frozen ground; hurting my side in the process. My eyes were bewildered and the only thing I could mutter was...

"ORCS!" Screams of panic could be heard from every corner and street. Most filled with fear and pain, but a few were full of bravery and determination. I was out of my mind. How could something like this ever happen to us! In the middle of ability day onto that.

"Get up, we gotta to run, Arthur!" Amber pulled my arm and yelled while monitoring the tense street before us. I composed myself and stood up. The aftermath of over digesting ability orbs overwhelmed me as my stomach was in a vicious uproar. Yet the terror of facing a two-meter tall brutish orc got my body moving, albeit not fast but as fast as it could with my injuries.

A wild roar from behind trembled the very ground beneath our light feet, and about ten meters away stood a gigantic green skinned muscle head. In each hand was a bloodied short sword and a leather pauldron protected his right shoulder. Bloodlust emitted from his raw eyes and his tusks seemed big enough to snap our bones. My eyes expanded in horror as I felt the strength in my legs vanish, and I rolled in the snow, leaving Amber as the first victim in the orc's path.

"Run, Arthur! Please... Live, you gotta survive!" She yelled as the monster dashed towards her and with quick and precise swings amputated her arms in one go. It forced a knee against her back as she writhed in pain. Her hair got pulled by the oversized hand and I could see blood rushing through her veins on her neck as it stretched more and more.

The scenes traumatized me more than ever imaginable, yet my body was reluctant to move even though I focused every inch of my muscles in a pathetic attempt to interrupt the slaughter. The frost burned on my skin and the branches marked their existence on my back, yet all I could do was let streams of tears roll down my chins.

Her neck finally gave up to the immense pressure, and the orc lifted his now red arm in victory. Out came another howl, as the whole city lit up with deep brutish cries of triumph. The orc slowly angled its face in my direction and cracked its knuckles, obviously enjoying the happenings.

Each step rung deep in my ears and I felt closer and closer to death. It walked around the area I was hiding in, sniffing the air, trying to allocate my position through the smell of human. The brute was two meters away from me as I swore I had direct eye contact with the orc. The corner of its mouth went up in a smirk, and he let out a light chuckle as it licked Amber's scarlet red blood off its pinky finger.

Another orc came running out of a side road and yelled something incomprehensible. The orc with short swords seemingly lost interest in me as it made its way over to its comrade and bounced out of my sight.

The airways in my nose were blocked by snot that ran long down my lips, and water flowed out of my eyes like a waterfall. My hands had turned pale blue in the bitter cold, and it was as if needles were pinching my exposed skin. All I could feel was the constant grief devouring and suppressing anything else inside me. I could no longer focus on the flames reflecting in the snow, or the moonlight lighting up the world. Everything I could comprehend was Amber's death and the sound of his cracking knuckles.

"You'll never be a hero... Even your parents denied you... You failed the only one who loved you..." Voices echoed in my head, some I was familiar with, while others were unknown. They taunted me for being a weakling, and I could no longer oppose them.

But just then, a clear and feminine voice spoke louder than any of the others. "You gotta survive!" Amber's last moments replayed in my head again, and I reclaimed the strength to slowly crawl out of the tight bush I had been hiding in.

[Some time later]

Steps heavy and breath uncontrollable, I walked through a thick white layered forest. Focusing on each of my steps and keeping the balance was way harder than I'd ever imagined it could be. Yet I was determined to get away from that forsaken place and survive. My body had long given up on the sorrow attempt to heat my blueish skin that was now filled with nasty blisters.

But I had welcomed the cold for too long, and I was in no state to make it through the dangerous forest alone, that much I knew. My knees were about to give up and my throat was hoarse, making it difficult to breathe the stinging cold air. I choked slimy blood out, painting a pattern in the snow.

It was impossible to divert my attention from the blood, and I could no longer sustain the pressure from my injuries and the frost. I fell to the ground face first, drawing blood from my left cheek that took the impact of my head. Eyes heavy, I lied, only paying attention to my faint heartbeat repeating itself now and then.

My joints and muscles had failed me in the rough circumstances and my consciousness was fading more and more with each second that passed.